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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

We have been sick A LOT lately. Just yesterday we had to go to the doctor. LillyAnne had an ear infection and she had to have a check up. Her ears were fine now thank goodness. Luke had a crazy cough. I told him if he kept coughing like that I was going to string him up on the flag pole and let him just blow in the breeze and cough. It was like acid to my ears. And the night before Londyn woke up with an earache. The doctor said it made her ears hurt even to look in Londyn's. Poor girl. Hopefully we will have some kind of bionic immune systems now. I've been doing lots of laundry too.

Monday, November 7, 2011

For whatever reason people go to Heath a whole bunch for marriage advice. Maybe it's because he's a pastor. Maybe it's because we really like each other. Maybe it's because he's really smart. Whatever the reason, they do it.

What I don't get is why they never do what he suggests! He usually says the same thing. Read some books, here are some good ones. He has even given some of our books to them. Get rid of your satallite or cable. Quit doing so many activites outside the home. Start a family Bible time. Stuff like that. Nothing hard or dramatic, just a few simple things.

No one has ever done any of them. It's insane.

And the more insane part is that then they come back with the same complaints a couple of months later. When he asks how the first things they did worked he finds out they never did them. So why do they come back??

Weird.

I guess they think his marriage advice is going to be eat a bunch of candy??

Sunday, October 23, 2011

We just wrapped up a great weekend. Friday night we pitched the tent in the backyard. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and I baked cookies and made hot chocolate and we had a good time around the fire. Then everyone except for LillyAnne and myself went to sleep in the tent; We stayed in the bed. Saturday we woke up and went to Silver Dollar City. The weather was perfect and we took a cousin Caitlyn with us. Caitlyn spent the night then this morning we woke up and went to church where Heath was preaching, then went to Olive Garden for lunch, spent the afternoon shopping at consignment and thrift stores and then came home and I took a nap. When I woke up Levi had a fever of 102 degrees. His throat is sore and his head hurts. And I'm not even mentioning the INSANE STOMACH VIRUS we all (except LillyAnne) suffered through last week. :(

PS. I just spell checked this and could not believe my eyes....marshmallow is actually spelled like this. I spelled it marshmellow. I certainly don't call it a MARSH-MAL-LOW. This is odd.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

I'm 32 now. It's official. My birthday was yesterday. It was a great one. We went to Dixie Stampede. I have been wanting to go to Dixie Stampede since Heath and I had our honeymoon in Branson. It was just as wonderful as I thought it would be.

Last week was VBS. We live about 30 minutes from the church so we just dropped the children off and ate out at Applebees (because it's close to the church) every night last week. Yes, it's excessive, but we said it was for my birthday so that made it all okay.

Then on Saturday (my actual birthday) I said I wanted to eat out again. Heath laughed but complied.

We all went to Cheddars and got the huge delicious piece of chocolate cake, and it was big enough for us all and we still had some left over. We probably wouldn't have had any left over if Londyn had eaten any. Londyn doesn't eat sweets very much. Is she my child?

Heath gave me three books. Londyn gave me 6 roses. Luke and Levi gave me a new recipe box and some pretty new recipe cards.

It was an AWESOME birthday! I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband and for the way he treats me. He really is the best.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I was talking to Luke about dental hygiene and how important it was. I mentioned that in a few years he was going to have to get braces.

He said, "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" I said, "Don't you want nice straight teeth? How are you going to get a beautiful wife with snaggeld up old teeth?" He said, "Well, maybe I will get a wife with snaggled up old teeth." I said, "You want a wife with snaggled up old teeth?" Luke said, "If I have to."

Monday, July 11, 2011

This morning we hat cinnamon toast and turkey bacon for breakfast. I held LillyAnne in my lap while I was eating. When I was done I looked down and said, "Oh! LillyAnne is covered with cinnamon and sugar!" Luke said, "Well...that's what little girls are made of. It must be leaking out." What a sweet boy!

Katie and Reuben came to visit us for a week in MO! It takes true friends to travel 13 hours just to spend a week with you in your hovel. (that's what I call our new, less than magnificent house)

We had a blast! They got here last Saturday and left on the next Friday. Here is a basic run down of the week:

Sat.-We met them at Cheddars (my favorite restaurant) and then went to White Water for a splashing good time!

Sun.-We took the children to Jump Mania, Bass Pro and then we all went to eat at Lambert's (home of the throwed rolls)

Mon.-It was Independence Day. We stayed home all day cooked out and watched fireworks in our back yard. It is a prime viewing location.

Tues.-We went to Dixie Stampede!!! This was a big deal. I had been wanting to go for 11 years. It was my birthday present and it was FANTASTIC! All those billboards were right! It really is Branson's most fun place to eat! (at least the most fun place I have eaten)

Wed.-We went to Cheddars again and then just visited the rest of the day.

Thurs.-We went to the library and then to Olive Garden

Fri.-Katie and Reuben left at 6:00 in the morning. It was sad.

That was the shortest week EVER!!! We had so much fun and it was so good to see them again. Now we won't be seeing them until Thanksgiving. What a blessing it is to have good friends! I can't even say how wonderful last week was!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

So, I can not tell a lie....literally. Our family was discussing Abraham Lincoln recently. We decided to give ourselves a family challenge. Our challenge was to be more like "honest Abe". To NEVER EVER EVER tell another lie again.

That's steep stuff.

And if we do tell a lie we have to come straight to the family and confess.

(this challenge excludes mean statements like being honest when someone asks if we like their new shirt, haircut etc.)

We want to be known for our honesty. When a Newcomb says something we want to KNOW that it is the truth. Never having a doubt. Not letting little lies creep in and seem okay. Because after all Satan is the father of lies and we don't want to be like him. And God does hate a lying tongue....and we really don't want God to hate our tongues.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Levi has had a sore throat, ear ache, fever, stuffy nose, horrible cough and a rash all over his body. Yesterday he had to go to the doctor and get a steroid shot because his rash was so severe. He is on an antibiotic too so he doesn't get a secondary infection from scratching so much.

Luke has had a low fever and just a tiny bit of rash. But starting tonight I believe he has pink eye in both eyes! It's so gross...mass amounts of eye gunk. I'm taking him to the Dr. tomorrow. This will be the 4th time I have taken a child to the Dr. in a week. Ugh.

LillyAnne is fine and I'm praying that she stays that way.

Despite all the sickness we had a great day today. It seemed everyone was well. At first I thought Luke's eye issues were just allergies! We went to the trophy shop with Heath and made over 300 trophies! It was fun. Even Londyn does a great job making them. You would think she is too little, but her work says otherwise. Then we all went to McDonald's and had happy meals for supper. Then we went swimming at Ginger's (Heath's sister) house. Then we went to the movies with Heath's sister (Heather) and 3 of the cousins. After the movies it had become obvious that Luke had pink eye.....or something nasty.

I can't wait to have my unusually healthy children back. Maybe that's why they stay so healthy.....they get it all out at once. Yeah, that's it. After this we will be fine for a year!

Monday, June 27, 2011

The children put on a circus tonight for Heath and myself. It was cute. Luke was a clown. He kept falling down, riding stick horses backwards and reading books upside down and saying they were written in another language.

Levi was the hula-hoop guy. He could throw it in the air and catch it and roll it and make it come back to him.

Londyn did a whole lot of standing around.

I felt kind of sorry for her.

Then the boys said, "Now for Londyn!"

Then she got two chairs and a broom. She was putting the broom across from chair to chair. It took SEVERAL tries to get it there while the boys made circus music with their mouths. I thought she was going to jump over it. But then she picked up her princess umbrella and stood in a chair. Then I got it. She was going to try to walk across the broom handle.

POOR LONDYN!!!!

The poor baby didn't know she couldn't do it! She didn't know it was way to far. She didn't know the broom was way to wobbly and the chairs too unsteady.

But then she did it....THREE TIMES!!!!!!!!!

Heath and I kept looking at each other in amazement and cheering for her. WOW!!

Londyn was awesome in the circus tonight. I wish I would have video taped it.

When I take a shower I always leave the door unlocked in case of an emergency. Almost every day Londyn has a shower interrupting emergency. The boys never do. They have a better idea of what constitutes an emergency.

Well, today was no exception. This morning when I woke up there was a package from Nema with 4 cute outfits for LillyAnne! Plus three Ty Beanie Babies, one for each of the three older ones. So I gave them their presents and got in the shower. The children always try talking through the door first. This is their attempt at giving me privacy. But I can't understand what they say with their little muffled voices.

So first came the knock.

Me (already slightly irritated that it's the 609th day in a row of shower interruption): What????

Londyn: MMMFFFFMMMMMMMFFFFFFFF NNNNNNMMMMMMMMMMMLLLLLLLL

Me: Open the door I can't hear you.

Door handle jiggling.

Londyn (screaming): I CAN'T IT'S LOCKED!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: No it's not. Open it.

Door opens.

Londyn: Mommy, can you read his (her rat beanie baby) birthday?

Me: No, I'm in the shower. I can't read his tag while I'm in the shower.

Here's where the day gets different.....

The shower curtain fling open and she thrusts her stuffed animal at me holding it by it's tag so I can see it clearly!!!!!!!

I closed the shower curtain again and changed my wording.

Me: I'm in the shower!!!!! I don't read tags while I'm in the shower!!!

Friday, May 20, 2011

I don't post enough blog updates!!! I try! I think about doing it! I have so much to talk about in my head but then I just don't say it on here. I'm to busy to type it on here.

I'm more of a facebook kind of woman. It's so easy on facebook. I post like two updates a day on there. It's like: Heather is going to see Pirates 4....or Heather is going to la ha....or Heather thinks steaks are delicious or whatever. It's so fast. I love it. But I like my blog because it lasts so much longer.

Here is what we have been up to.

We have spent the last 17 days in Florida. Heath surprised me with a trip here for vacation.

LillyAnne is 2 months old now and she can smile and laugh and squeal. She cries a lot too.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

We all love books and we go to the library pretty often. I was thinking lately about how in so many of the children's books the children are bratty and obnoxious. It's annoying to me for some reason. I don't even like READING about obnoxious children.

We have a game we play when we read them. I read, and when the child becomes all rude and stuff I start just making up the text. Usually the parent grabs some sort of whipping utensil and starts using it on the child, and then the child changes into an obedient loving child with some respect for his/her elders and a decent attitude.

My children love it and think this is a hysterical game.

But then they always want me to read the book right, so I do.

Ugh.

Who writes this stuff anyway?

I think my game works though. Working means my children realize that they are not to act like that and also that this monsterous behaviour is completely rude. They always wind up talking about how that kid was a brat and really did need a spanking. But usually in the book the parents somehow do whatever it takes to make the kid happy.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I had gestational diabetes with LillyAnne. Because of that my doctor, Dr. Vance, wanted me to be induced at 39 weeks. When you have ges. diabetes you run a risk of having really fat babies so that increases your risk of a c-section. I had an ultrasound of LillyAnne 10 days before I had her and they said she was 8 lbs. 4 oz. They said that she would probably be about eight and a half to nine pounds. They were WAY off. She wasn't even big.

I was supposed to be induced on St. Patricks Day, March 17th. They told us to call at 4:30am (we had to be there at 5:00) to make sure they had enough room for us. We woke up, although I hadn't really slept AT ALL because of my excitement. And they didn't have room for us. Somehow I knew they wouldn't. I just had a feeling. But I was still really disappointed. I was so ready to meet my new daughter.

So March 17th was a very anti-climatic day. We dressed in green, got shamrock shakes from McDonald's (disgusting) and went to the library and the park. It was nice....but not quite what I had in mind.

The next day was it!!! We woke up (no sleep AGAIN), called the hospital (they said to come on in), got ready and went in. I was so excited. Heath's mother came over to stay with the children until his sister got here around 10:00am to take over. She spent the night here with them.

When I got to the hospital a nurse started to give me an IV. I have really good veins. All nurses say so....every time....they talk about how easy it is to hit my veins and tell me I'm so lucky to have such wonderful easy to hit veins.

This nurse missed my vein.

She had to do it again. I was mad. How could she miss my amazing vein?? She must have been a sorry excuse for a nurse I guess. Heath gets nauseous when he is stressed out. When she missed the vein he got stressed out. He turned all pale and I thought he was going to start throwing up in my labor and delivery room. Weird since it was MY arm that was being mutilated but oh well. They started the pitocin drip and I started having contractions about an hour later. It was 10:00am by this time.

I was having PAINLESS CONTRACTIONS.

Yep, you read that right. I couldn't even tell when I was having them. I have heard people talk about this before but I have always assumed they were telling a bald faced lie. There was no such thing as "painless labor". My friend Lisa lent me a book about how to have painless childbirth and I read it and thought it was a bunch of bunk. But I had decided I was going to go all natural anyway. Well, as far as all natural you can go when you are being induced. All natural with pitocin and ivs and monitors.....so, only no pain meds...you get the picture. I couldn't BELIEVE it. My contractions started about 10:00 and went on all day long. Big painless contractions. I could see them on the monitor so I knew they were big. They looked like mountains. But if Heath didn't tell me I was having one (he could see the monitor and I couldn't without craning my neck around) I didn't even know I was having one. It was AWESOME! I took naps and ate snacks (I had to sneak that part), visited with Heath, dilated very slowly and steadily and went to the bathroom every 15 minutes...ALL DAY LONG. At noon I was 4 cm. The Dr. came in and talked to me about breaking my water. My past experience is that when the water gets broken it really hurts so I asked him if we could just leave it alone. He said that was fine by him. He said there was no need to fix what wasn't broken and he would just come back in later and to call him if we needed him.

Boy, when he said later...he meant later. We didn't see him again until 6:30, after he was done for the day in the office. I had only dilated to a six and a half. Still no pain but I was getting tired of it all and VERY hungry. I told him I was ready to break my water. He was ready too. It took several tries for him to break my water. He said that was strange. He said it was a very strong bag of water. I thought it was DISGUSTING. I hate that part. He talked about putting a internal monitor on LillyAnne. I didn't want to do that. I don't want anything screwed to my babies heads. He said they might have to because she was moving around too much and wouldn't stay on the monitor. She had been moving all day (and the entire pregnancy) and they said it didn't matter before my water was broken but that once my water was broken they wanted to be able to keep an eye on her. Finally he broke my water.

Then it HURT....REALLY BAD.

Remember how I said I didn't want any pain medication? Well after 2 contractions I was asking for an epidural. My hands were shaking, my teeth were chattering and I was miserable. They called the anesthesiologist and it took 40 minutes for him to get there. A very miserable 40 minutes.

I got my epidural and it worked WONDERFULLY. HOORAY!!! I was back to painless labor! I couldn't feel a thing. Although my teeth were chattering uncontrollably and my hands were shaking like crazy. I had never had that happen before. Everyone assured me it was completely normal for laboring women and they said the epidural just added to that. Weird. The nurses were now insisting on that internal monitor and the doctor said he would check me to see how far along I was before he left. He checked me and he looked surprised. He said, "She's 100%." I responded brilliantly and said, "What does that mean?" He said, "You are ready to push." I said, "Now??? Already???" He said, "Yes." I said, "Whoa." So push I did. I'm a good pusher. They always tell me that. I still couldn't feel my contractions so they had to tell me when to push. After my 2nd push I had to blow my nose. I had been sick with a cold. I started to blow my nose and the Dr. said, "This is going to be the first baby every born by a woman blowing her nose." I thought he was joking. Heath said something about it then and I said, "ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I thought you were joking!" Heath said she came down about half an inch every time I would blow my nose! Then she was born.

Healthy, beautiful and perfect. They put her straight on my stomach and I cried. But I hid my tears because I didn't want to seem too mushy. She was born at 9:49pm (my longest labor ever) and weighed 7 lbs. and 4 oz. and was 20 inches long.

I am sooooooo thankful for her. She is the perfect addition to our family.

Monday, April 18, 2011

So how did we celebrate you ask? We sat around and did nothing all day.

It's true. LillyAnne was happy about it. She loves nothing more than for me to sit and hold her. And Heath was happy about it. He is taking a nap even now. He likes naps. I hate naps. We ate chicken lasagna and garlic bread for supper and had key lime pie for dessert. That's what Heath picked. He didn't even want a cake.

Bizzare.

To be fair we did go to Silver Dollar City yesterday and then we went to Lamberts to eat after that. Now THAT was a fun day! And we are going on a date tomorrow night. Heath's sister, Heather, is keeping the children for us. But not LillyAnne, she gets to go with us. But today we are doing nothing. It's the actual, real birthday and we are doing nothing. And Heath isn't crying. And I just can't wrap my brain around that.

So I'm sitting here about to go nuts due to boredom. Not boredom because there is nothing to do. There is PLENTY to do. I could be cleaning my house, homeschooling my children, brushing my hair...but boredom because I want to be celebrating in a much bigger way and I'm not.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

It's Saturday afternoon. Our backyard in this duplex backs right up to a football field. Usually I hate this. I don't like how people are ALWAYS out there in their underwear, or how loud it is, or how we never have any privacy. But today it's kind of cool. Today they are having a "spring game". I never knew that existed but Heath told me they did. He said all colleges have them. Anyway they blew up this giant slide and put it right by the fence to our backyard. So guess what my children are doing?

Yep, they are all sliding. The oldest 3 are anyway. LillyAnne is taking a nap in her swing. She really loves her swing. Anyway Luke, Levi and Londyn are the only ones on the slide. Well, I did see one other little boy about 3 there, but he is gone now. So my children are all alone sliding on the giant blow up slide.

So I decided to update my blog while the children were busy and the house was semi-clean. But it's not really turning out to be an update, more like me rambling. I would delete it except that I haven't been blogging very faithfully so I feel like I need to post SOMETHING!

LillyAnne is 4 weeks old as of last night. FOUR WEEKS OLD!!!! Where did that four weeks go? I plan on blogging about her birth but I haven't had time and Internet at the same time and I don't feel like doing it now. But I will soon. It's my next important blog update. All my children are coming in now and I have a hard time blogging when they are talking to me.

Friday, April 8, 2011

It's been a long time since my last blog post. Here's why. When we were in Milton moving we didn't have internet. Then when we moved we didn't have it. Then we discovered that our phone would give our laptop internet access...and that was awesome, for like 3 days! Then they started upgrading all the AT&T towers in our town so our phone and internet didn't work for about a week and a half. Thankfully it's all working again now.

Here is what's up. LillyAnne is 2 weeks old. When we took her to the Dr. for her 2 week check up she was supposed to be back up to her birth weight. She had gained 13 ounces! She had also shrunk a quarter of an inch. That was weird but the Dr. said lots of babies do that. She said it was probably because her head had rounded out more. She will be 3 weeks old tomorrow at 9:49pm. She has already grown so much. I can't believe it. I do a whole lot of sitting and staring at her. It's really fun.

I have only done homeschooling two days since we have moved here. I guess I should start to do better. I'm not going to worry about it too much though until LillyAnne is 6 weeks old. My life has been a whirlwind since this move!

I'm going to try to do better at keeping up with my blog. As long as life doesn't get too busy and as long as the internet keeps working!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Where do I even begin? With how we haven't had Internet for quite some time? With where I left off? Nah. That would be way to boring.

WE HAVE A BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!

Her name is LillyAnne Rose Newcomb

She was born on March 18th at 9:49 pm.

She weighed 7 lbs. and 4.3 oz

I'll start there. It's late. I'm in the hospital and using their Internet. We still don't have Internet at our house. It may take a while for me to make another post. Hopefully I will be able to get on soon and make some blog posts.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Well, our house has been rented and the people want to move in by Sunday.

In 2 days.

So we are going to Milton tomorrow!! I'm super excited. It feels like forever since I have seen my family and friends and dog and cat. It's only been 3 weeks so I better get used to it.

We are all driving down together and then loading up the moving truck and then leaving on Monday. At least that is the plan. I would LOVE to stay in Milton until we get the duplex ready to live in. But since I have to go to the Dr. three times a week that doesn't seem to be an option. I don't know how I will ever take moving back into the upstairs of my brother-in-laws house. They have been EXTREMELY hospitable and generous. They have not asked us to pack up and get out once. But I am REALLY ready to have my own home! Even if it is tiny and kind of yuck, at least it will be ours. Hopefully we can get flooring in sooon. I think that is all we are waiting on.

It will be super hard on me to follow the moving van back to MO. I don't think they go past 50 or 55 miles per hour. Pure torture. But it's the price I'm willing to pay to get to take a quick trip back home. And at least I won't be like Heath. He will be driving with a dog and a cat in the truck. Cats are not the best traveling companions. At least I won't have to listen to 14 hours of meowing. I will just swell up like a blimp. I do that on trips now.

Heath's parents are extememely upset that I'm going. They think that I don't have any business going on a 14 hour trip when I'm 35 weeks pregnant. Maybe they are right. Heath's dad asked if I had prayed about it. No, I haven't. Maybe I will tonight. We are waiting to leave until after my Dr. appointment so we won't get in until around 4:00am. Maybe I can sleep through most of that. We will see.

Anyway we are Florida bound!!!! (as long as Jesus and the Dr. say it's okay)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

We are trying to renovate a duplex to move into here in MO. It's super small and super nasty, but Heath works on it everyday and it's slowly but surely getting better. We go look at his progress on most days. Today was one of those days. It was warm out so the children went outside to play in the backyard. It has a pretty big yard, the biggest one we've ever had. So they love that. Londyn got so carried away playing that she peed in her pants. That hasn't happened in a looooooong time. But it happened today. The other side of the duplex houses Heath's parents and grandma. So he took her over there to clean her up. He decided to wash her pants and panties and just put her on one of his Grandma's depends to play in until they were done. Luke, Levi and Londyn then proceeded to play super stretchy long diaper girl. The boys were in a tree that she couldn't get in. She would stretch the diaper out really far and then try to pull the boys out of the tree. Fun game. I REALLY wish I would have had my camera so this post could have a picture.

The property backs up to a college football field and track. Today I heard some yelling so I looked out the back door. Lots of college kids were running around the track. I'm not sure why. But some of the guys were shirtless and just had on these tiny little shorts and shoes. Levi was yelling, "Hey underwear guys!" I told him to stop it. That we don't yell that. Later the children started yelling because they found a dead headless squirrel. The next time I looked out the door Levi had the squirrel on a stick and was waving it all around. I told him to throw it on the other side of the fence. The college can have it. I think the college will be blessed to have us as neighbors.

Monday, February 14, 2011

We went to Discovery Center on Saturday. It's a super fun place. It's like a science museum. It has all kinds of cool stuff in it. Like a human brain, and pictures that freeze your shadows, and giant eyeballs that you get in and they talk all about the eye to you, and a big room that's like you are in outer space, and you can make a tiny tornado, and generate a bolt of lightening and tons of other stuff. It's one of my favorite things to do in Springfield. Brad Pitt bought it or built it or something because he's from Springfield. I always thought he was a complete loser but obviously he's not. He did that and it's great. I never take enough pictures when we go because Heath and I are running from one exhibit to the other like crazed children too. It's that cool. And it's so educational I feel like my brain will explode. Anyway we went and it was fun, and here are all the pictures I took except like two.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

We went to a new church this morning. It was a Presbyterian church. A friend of Heath's told us about it. I had never been to a Presbyterian church before. It was way different than I am accustomed to. For instance the music, it was all just piano and hymns. Not just hymns, hymns I didn't know. So we just stood there while everyone else sang. And they didn't have any classes for the children. Levi was thrilled about that. (of course) He never went to class anyway. He doesn't like them. Luke likes them though and so does Londyn. We sat on the back row because I didn't want to be the new people with the half crazed children. They were all very good though, except when Luke tried to lay down on the chairs and go to sleep. Really? I expected the 10 year old to do the best! I really liked the people though. It was the friendliest church I have ever been to. It runs about 250 people and all of them homeschool except for 2 families. That's nice for us, we weren't the minority in that area for once. And they eat lunch together EVERY SINGLE Sunday, which is just pure awesome. I want to go back. It's unfortunate that I only packed one dress and one pair of very painful boots to go with it....very unfortunate indeed.

Then we went to Cheddars again. It was delicious again, but my feet were really starting to hurt. I was telling Heath that I would have to be sure to buy some new ones before next Sunday.

Next we went to visit Heath's grandpa in the hospital. He has been very sick but is doing better now. By this time my feet were ACHING.....KILLING ME....THROBBING....EXCRUCIATING....

Then we went to Wall-Mart because we needed a ton of stuff. We took my throbbing feet along with us because I didn't have much of a choice. I didn't want to go. I asked Heath if we could just go to his brother's house and let me change shoes first. He said we could because he's awesome like that. But I didn't want to because we would pass Wal-Mart and drive 15 minutes and then drive 15 minutes back. That's a grand total of 30 wasted minutes and some amount of gas.

So I said I would go along and suffer because I'm great like that. But then I got a good idea. I could put some slippers on at Wal-Mart and then purchase them when we left. Yes I would feel ridiculous but that was the price I was willing to pay to save my family the time and gas. Then I got a brilliant idea. BRILLIANT!!!! I could just ride in one of those little battery operated carts. I had always wanted to ride one anyway. I am 35 weeks pregnant after all. One can only guess what might be ailing one who is 35 weeks pregnant. They didn't have to know it was uncomfortable shoes. So that's what I did.

Can I just say it was awesome??? Heath just kept laughing and at first I did too. I'm sure it made me look even more sickly. But talk about shopping made easy!!! Heath just pushed a regular cart and Luke walked and the two little ones just took turns joy riding on the supper cool cart with me. I even let Levi drive for a while. That part was kind of scary. When I backed up it made a beeping noise like a dump truck. That part was almost embarrassing. But the children loved it, and everyone in Wal-Mart gave me the ride of way like I was royalty. It was fun. I almost had one wreck though. I came less than a centimeter away from hitting the end of an isle. Heath couldn't believe it. I do wish we could have gotten a picture for this blog post though. Sadly the camera was left on a dresser, and I never even thought of it.

Heath had to use one of the awesome electric carts when he had his injury. He didn't think it was fun. He scowled and pouted the whole time while I was bent over double with laughter. He looked like a skinny athletic guy. Not like a guy who had just had major surgery on his guts and could barely walk. But that's a story for another day, and it's was way better than my own story about uncomfortable shoes.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Today we went to Springfield to visit my specialist. Honestly it was horrible.

Horrible!

Apparently I was already in a terrible mood. I had no idea about that until Heath informed me after the Dr. visit. (Although I did think it was weird when I went ballistic when Heath put a frozen water bottle in front of the heater vent in the car to thaw it for a thirsty child.)

Anyway, when cantankerous Heather arrived at the office which was an hour away from here, with my three beloved children in tow, the woman at the front desk said, "You were informed that children under 12 are not allowed past the waiting room right?"

No I was not.

I was angry. I have never scowled and muttered at a person in a public place like I did at the poor receptionist who was just letting me know about a rule which I was sure she didn't come up with. I thought it was odd behavior for me but I didn't care. So Heath was a little shocked but he cheerfully agreed to just stay out with the children. Forty-five minutes later they called me back. Then they asked me 500 questions and took my vitals. Then I went to a separate waiting room in the back (where my family wasn't allowed) and sat there.

Next it was time for my ultrasound. I was happy because ultrasounds are ALWAYS fun. And it was....for a while. The baby is almost 5 lbs. It was a really long ultrasound. They kept talking about how usually when babies are this big you can't get a good look at them but she was being very cooperative and they could take all the pictures they needed! Great...but it took a long time. After a few minutes my back began to hurt from laying on it. The ultrasound tech let me put a pillow under it to help. Then it began to REALLY hurt, but I'm tough so I didn't say anything. Then I got nauseous. Luke had thrown up this morning so I thought, "Wow. I've contracted the stomach bug and my body is choosing to throw up NOW????" Then I got REALLY nauseas. I said, "Can we take a break? I need to throw up." The lady jumped back and said, "Yes!" I told her I didn't know what was happening to me but that I felt really sick. She told me that it was very common. Apparently when you get so far along the baby lays on some artery and cuts off blood and oxygen to your brain and it can make you very sick. She said lots of women just started throwing up on the table.

???????

Wow. So we had to stop the ultrasound twice for me to get up and let blood and oxygen go back to my brain, and then I was able to lay on my side so the ultrasound was fun again. I was really sad Heath missed it though. The baby kept playing with and chewing on her feet. It was really cute. And when they were trying to get a picture of her nose she kept covering up her nose with her hands. They said her growth was right on target and she wasn't too big. Everything looked great. It was the good part of the visit.

Then I went back to the God forsaken waiting room.

Then I met with the head doctor and she pretty much just said that everything the other 3 women I had met me was okay.

Two and a half hours later I was done! My poor children and husband. And I was STARVING, in a hungry mother bear who has been hibernating all winter kind of way.

So we went to Cheddars (my favorite restaurant in MO) and I ate like a wild beast. I drank Coke, I ate nachos and cheese sticks and chicken tenders....and then I followed it up with Cookie Monster. It was not pretty.

When Heath thought I was all done eating he stacked the plates in the middle of the table. I saw that and wondered what on earth he was doing because there was a chicken strip on one of the plates. I asked him if he was sending that away. He said yes. I looked at him like he was crazy and snatched the chicken strip off the plate like a cave woman. Luke started laughing. I looked at Luke because I had no idea what he was laughing at. Heath informed me of my insanely bad mood of the day. I was sad. I don't want to be a monster. (so lay off the cookie monsters right??) I didn't even know I HAD been a monster. Heath pointed out various horrible things I had done since opening my eyes this morning.

Wow. There was a lot. I said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know I was being awful. What should I do?" Heath said, "Nothing, you get a free pass today." I said, "I feel like I'm doing all kinds of bad stuff for my family." (because I had also knocked a glass of water all over Londyn and Levi in my haste to shove unhealthy food in my mouth) Luke said, "No you don't! You do great things for our family all the time! You are even having a baby for us!"

I think I have the perfect family and I thank God for them. They are so forgiving of my faults and even encouraging to me when I'm a monster.

Monday, February 7, 2011

It's 1:36am. All my family is asleep except for Luke and myself. He's reading what must be a very good book. I'm DYING of heartburn. I finished eating at 5:18. I know because I have to keep track of that stuff for blood testing. So why do I feel like I could shoot flames from my mouth???? Oh yeah, it's because I'm pregnant and I drank water. It's a lethal combination. And I can't find my tums anywhere.

The children and I had a bunch of firsts the other day. It was their first time sledding. I didn't do that because of my huge pregnant condition. They really liked it. And then we all had our first time being pulled around on a tractor inner tube. I did that one, they went slow and it wasn't too bouncy. Then we all went up the hill and slid down on the inner tube. It could hold 4 people at a time so that was even more fun than sledding and it wasn't very bouncy so I was included. The strange thing was that I kept getting sweaty! It was 37 degrees but I must have overdressed. For us Florida people that was a bunch of firsts. We had fun. We tried to make a snowman but it wound up looking more like the Washington Monument. I just don't feel much like bending over these days. It takes real effort.

I have to go to a gestational diabetes specialist tomorrow. That's another first for me. The Doctor said that starting next week I will need to see him once a week, and go twice a week to the hospital to be monitored (I'm still not completely sure what that means...we'll see), and go to the specialist once a week. That's 4 Dr. visits a week! YIKES!! Maybe I will get lots of ultrasounds? I hope so. Apparently ges. diabetes ups your risk for stillbirths and C-sections. The Dr. said that every time my blood sugar gets high it's like pouring fertilizer on the baby. So they want to watch her closely and leave her in as long as possible but not let her get so big that a c-section is very likely. It's going to be a pain with us trying to renovate this duplex to live in and all, but it's only for a few weeks and the payoff will definitely be worth it. I still have about 6 weeks to go but I already can't wait to hold that sweet baby girl in my arms and not my belly! I am definitely the most impatient with this pregnancy. I'm sure it's because I can't eat any deliciousness and also because by the time she gets here we will be settled into our own home, which I CAN NOT wait for. Heath is painting and fixing it up as fast as he can but it sure doesn't feel very fast. It feels like we aren't accomplishing anything and the stuff we need to do is growing every day.

So frustrating.

So I'm praying that things start moving around here and that I don't go crazy waiting for everything to be accomplished.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The blizzard of the century, that's what they are calling it. It just looked like some snow to me, but I'm from FL, what do I know? We are in MO now. Just in time for this "blizzard". Heath's parent's have lived here for 37 years and they said they had never seen anything like it. We got about 2 ft. of snow. My children and I love it! Wal-Mart just re-opened today and it's a good thing because we need some stuff.

Heath hasn't had time to work on our future home because we have been snowed in for 2days. Hopefully tomorrow he can do some painting. We have already been at Heath's brothers' house for 5 days. I hate to stay so long. I feel like we are imposing. But we didn't count on "the blizzard of the century" and has really delayed us.

Tomorrow I also have a Dr. app. I'm a little excited because I always like to go and hear the heartbeat and stuff, and I'm a little sad because I have let my blood sugar go to high the past day and a half and I don't want to get in trouble.

I am WAY past ready to get in our own home and start nesting. I'm really feeling the need to nest. Hopefully I can soon!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Well, we got here last night at about 1:30. I'm TIRED!!! We had a good trip and it took about 13 hours. Today I went to meet my new Dr. Tomorrow morning I have an appointment. I'm already tired of this diabetic diet and it's only been 2 and a half days. This is going to be the longest pregnancy ever.

We are going to a marriage conference for pastors and their wives tomorrow. I have never been to one before and I'm kind of excited. I also have to be away from my children for 43 hours and I've never done that before either. That part makes me (and Levi) nervous. They are going to stay with Heath's sister Heather. Luke is excited. Levi is NOT. And Londyn doesn't seem to care.

This morning we discovered that there was left over dirty snow still piled up from the snow they had last week. My children were thrilled. It was 50 degrees but they were out there making dirty snowmen and having dirty snowball fights. It's impressive for us Florida folk. I hope we see some freshly fallen snow soon. That would be fun. Before we do though I think we need to invest in some gloves.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

We are leaving to move to MO tomorrow. At least that's the plan. Our plans are always changing. So Heath and I went to lunch with Katie and Reuben one last time. We told the owner of La Ha that this was our last meal here. When we went to pay they guy wouldn't let us. I was touched. It's not just because of the food that La Hacienda is our favorite. They are good people. It was really touching. :)

Monday, January 24, 2011

I have gestational diabetes. The midwife said it was "severe". Lovely. Tomorrow I go to a class to teach me about it and give me a little machine to measure my sugar levels which I have to do 3 times a day. I don't know how it will measure them but I sure hope it doesn't involve any blood! I don't get to eat any yummy food, but I will probably be induced early and get LOADS of ultrasounds. There is no great loss without some small gain after all.

Our dog got away last night while we were taking so much stuff out of the house. He hasn't come back. I'm sure some well meaning neighbor "rescued" him. I'm worried since we are leaving. I'm about to make a sign to post at the entrance to our neighborhood and tomorrow we are going to call the pound. At least we are delaying the move for a day so I can get my nifty machine and do my class.

Tonight my grandmother wanted to take all the children to get pictures made of them. After we left the store we couldn't find the car. I said, "I'll find it." and pressed the panic button. It didn't work. We (my big pregnant self, 84 yr old grandmother and 3 children) wandered aimlessly around the parking lot for like 4 minutes. Finally I came to the conclusion that the van had been stolen. Luke said, "Ooooooo, I hope it's been stolen. It would be a great adventure!" I was raving about how it had been stolen and waving my keys in the air like a maniac. Nema was saying, "No it hasn't. You have the keys in your hand." I was yelling, "It's been hot wired! This is the perfect ending to my perfect day!"

Overreact much?

I guess I wandered close enough that the panic button worked. I found the unstolen van.

Thank you Jesus.

Oh, and also I got to got to La Hacienda twice today. Once with Jill before my diabetic news and once with Nick and Jessie after when I ate a taco salad and water with no chips.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

We are packing packing packing packing. We are moving to MO in a few days. (I know you have all heard it all before but I'm almost certain this time.) Londyn kept asking me if our chickens in MO have hatched yet. I had no idea what she was talking about. I kept giving her different answers to try to get her to quit asking me. She gave up and asked Heath tonight. He said, "That's just a saying Mommy says all the time. There are no real chickens." Then I got it. Every time the children would talk about the move I would tell them not to count their chickens before they were hatched. They are really excited. I have mixed emotions. When I'm here all I can think about is the awesome stuff in MO. Now that we are moving I can only think about all the stuff I love about living here. I need help.

I'm tired. My feet are starting to swell. I have sharpie all over my hands from writing on cardboard boxes. My back hurts. I get the results back from my glucose test tomorrow. I really hope I don't have diabetes! I have to go. I need to help Heath pack.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Heath and I have been thinking about moving to MO for quite a while now. Like 2 years, and now we are again. We are thinking about moving Monday or Tuesday.

IT'S INSANE!

IT'S RASH!

I'M NERVOUS!

Our house has been for sale/rent for a while and we never get any intrest. And now someone wants to rent it as soon as possible. We would have to go to MO and remodel the temporary house we would be living in. Our basic plan (for today anyway) is to leave on Tuesdayish and stay with Heath's brother for a week while we bust our rears on painting and reflooring and stuff then Heath would fly back to FL alone and pack up all our stuff and drive the U-Haul back up to MO where we would then live.

sigh

It's a lot for me. I'm really into security and to tell the truth this plan could change at any moment. But I'm turning into a go with the flow type person now...it's kind of cool....but I'm not all the way there yet. I swear I will be there by the time we settle down. Security will probably bore me. :)

So Heath is gone now to feed the pony and pick up moving boxes. And I'm sitting here dreaming about the chicken strip special he is going to bring me and listening to my stomach growl. We are going to Nema's to eat tonight because she cooked seafood gumbo. My family loves seafood gumbo and I hate it. So I get a special dinner. Ridiculous isn't it?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

I went to the midwife today and got back the results of my glucose test. The big news is....I failed. Yippee.

That means that tonight I can't have anything to eat after midnight, then I have to be at Baptist Heath Center at 7:00am, with no breakfast, then they take my blood, then I drink nasty stuff (nastier than before), then they stick me and take more blood every hour for the next three hours.

Good times.

And that's not even the end of it. Tomorrow is Friday so I won't get the results in until Monday. Which means that I'm supposed to act like I have gestational diabetes until I know if I do or not. Just to be safe. And I get to wonder about it all weekend.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I decided to update my blog. As I was sitting here staring at my blog post I told Heath that I didn't know what to write about. He told me to write about how wonderful I am. I'm not sure anyone would want to read me raving about how wonderful I am so I'm not going to blog about that.

So I'll blog about today. Today we had sausage, biscuits and eggs for breakfast. Then we went to feed Thunderhooof and the goats. I love those baby goats. They are so cute I can't even believe it.

We went to Petland the other day and asked to play with a 10 week old dachshund puppy. It was possibly one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Heath was even impressed, and he isn't usually impressed by animals. He took a picture with the cell phone. It was amazing. I didn't even ask how much they wanted for it because I had already asked the price of a Cocker Spaniel puppy and they wanted $1,200. I'm serious. So I was no longer interested in buying a puppy from them. But I'm not blogging about the trip to Petland. I'm blogging about today.

Back to those goats. After feeding them we came back home and Heath and I went walking. My midwife REALLY wants me to walk. I'm gaining too much weight. This is the second time I have in a week and a half. I'm not sure that's what she had in mind but it's been cold here and I'm a sissy when it comes to cold weather. So today I went walking. I'm proud.

Tonight we are going to eat Raviolis and Mac & Cheese. I don't like Mac & Cheese or Raviolis. I think it's a pathetic supper. But everyone else in my family likes that stuff. Heath told me he would bring me a chicken strip special from Big T. I think he's pretty special.

And then we will have baths and I'm going to bake some brownies. Then that will be it for the day. Maybe some light cleaning and me feeling guilty because another day has went by without me seriously homeschooling. I may even make Luke do some work. But probably not. And I'm going to curl up with a book on the couch and eat brownies and milk. My midwife would LOVE that.

Friday, January 7, 2011

I was looking over my blog posts and I realized something. I'm usually complaining on here! Apparantly I don't ever feel inclined to blog about something until I'm upset, sad, discouraged...whatever. Well, that's going to change. :) Usually I'm a super happy upbeat person so I don't know what that is about! Anyway I'm in one of my usual chipper moods so I decided to post something RIGHT NOW! So far 2011 has been great. We have had a lot of fun and have more planned. I'm 29 weeks pregnant and getting more excited by the day. We still haven't decided what we are going to name her yet but I'm usually a late namer. With Levi I knew it before he was concived but with Luke and Londyn I was still unsure in the hospital so this is typical for me. Because I have nothing more to say now I'm just going to post a few pictures of my wonderful life. :)

The children love to feed the ducks at Carpenters Park.It's January. How fuzzy is Thunderhoof going to get? Apparently this fuzzy. :)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Well, Heath is still unemployed and it's January. We have looked into several churches, none of which we really seem to fit in with. To tell the truth I'm a little concerned. I don't think I make a very good pastors' wife. I'm not sure I make the grade. But I'm just not all that into it. I don't even know how to describe it. Most of the time so much more is expected of pastors wives and I don't mean having good character. I mean this fake (well, fake for me) front. Always being "on". I don't get it and I don't like to do it. It has been an issue at every church except Christian Life. They will always have a special place in my heart for that! It makes me nervous about moving forward, but seeing how we need a job and Heath is a preacher I suppose I better put on my big girl panties and do my best. (You see...good pastors' wives don't ever mention their panties....big girl or otherwise.) I have recently started reading a blog written for pastors wives hoping it would encourage me and give me the....ummm......passion for it that I obviously need. It doesn't. I think it's doing the opposite. I may stop reading it. Heath says I'm fine the way I am. He says I do a good job. But he likes me a lot and so I think that may have something to do with this. Anyway, we are continuing to look at job after job after job after job after job...........ugh.....and hopefully God will give us guidance and wisdom when we finally do.....something??